The Elf King (16 page)

Terill stepped back. He
felt bad for tricking her into taking the crystal, but there was no
other way. The magic would consume her, as it will Dren and the
spirit living inside him. The crystal was made to do just
that.

“
Go to him. Find Dren and
set him free.”

Breedoria kept dancing,
holding on to the crystal, feeling its power surge through her
veins. “I will go to Dren, Lord of the Fools. I will do what he
failed to. The power will be mine.”

She laughed and spun,
forgetting Terill was even there. The other Dark Elves closed in on
her, each attempting to take the crystal, each of them sent back by
her magic in a continuance cycle that didn’t seem to
tire.

Terill Estrial waited for a
few moments, watching the madness enfold before him, holding
himself accountable for their misfortunes. He had failed them. He
looked around at their world, at what he had created for them, and
his heart sank in pity. No redemption could be found in the Shade
of the Lyyn. They never had a chance to change.

“
Forgive me,
Bree.”

Terill backed away,
preparing to leave the forsaken to their would-be prison. He
turned, touched the shield, released its lock, watchint the magic
fade dense enough for him to slip through. He looked back to his
daughter one final time before stepping into his world.

The power of the crystal
pulsated around Breedoria’s neck in warm waves. Her laughter
heightened. “I am coming for you, Dren! Your power will be mine, my
love!”

T
hrough unimaginable darkness, scores of Seers were being
marched by
Takers
through the swamp lands of Creatia, deep beneath the earth
through the catacombs that held the growing
Mrenx Ku
. Chained and gagged they
came, in an endless line with shadows darker than the sky above
them leading the way down to their deaths. From a mile away screams
were heard—visions coming to pass.

In the depths, glowing with
power, the spirits in the
Mrenx Ku
fed impatiently on the power of the Seers chained
before them. As they died, their bodies dehydrated of life itself,
new Seers were brought into the chamber, and the old ones were
filled with enough magic from the
Mrenx
Ku
that their husks were filled with life
again. This time in the form of
Takers
.

With bodies burnt from the
searing magic as it extracted the life out of them, some still
smoking from the excruciating process, the newly formed
Takers
lined up and filed
out of the chamber with orders to bring back anyone with
magic.

Massing at the outskirts of
the catacomb in a nearby valley, thousands of red eyes
glowed.
Takers
stood ready, waiting for the march on the Elves. The
annihilation of mankind was at hand. There would be no powers left
to stop the
Mrenx Ku
. None left to challenge. It had made sure of it. With the
bloodline fallen, and the Elves having no magic left to aid them,
the
Mrenx Ku
had
given its enemies no way to stand against it. It merely needed time
now to grow. Then darkness would fall.

Chapter 10

K
amen Ode stared at the three frightened faces looking back at
him and grunted in dismay. The anger on his face was evident; his
strong hands grasped the wooden door tight enough to split it. He
shook his head, muttering something, his face shifting from
disbelief to grief. His body sagged slightly, and his complexion
paled for a moment, before his anger returned and his body
stiffened. He growled aloud and vented for a second, hoping someone
from the streets would be stupid enough to confront him. But no
fight was found, and he allowed his anger to reside. There would be
another time to unleash his fury.

“
Which of you is the Seer?”
the big man barked.

Kandish shook her head, the
two brothers stared fixedly still waiting for a chance to escape.
“We are not Seers.”

“
You’re the witch, then?”
Kamen questioned Kandish. She shook her head again; he could see
the hurt in her eyes so he didn’t press her further.

Kamen Ode grunted and swung
the door back against the wagon so hard that it ripped it free from
the hinges, slamming into the street. “I hate thieves! Liars! All
of ‘em!”

He turned to them again. “I
was told this wagon had a Seer. I am to see that she is safely
escorted out of this dump alive.”

Kandish again shook her
head. “We are not Seers. We were kidnapped and brought here to be
sold.”

“
We would appreciate you
letting us out,” Tane added. His face was still hard, not trusting
the other, keeping a step in front of Qenn for
protection.

“
You look unfit for
purchase,” Kamen snorted. “I am only here for the
Seers.”

Kamen Ode stepped away from
the door and motioned with his head for them to exit the wagon.
They did so without hesitation, first Kandish, then Tane, and Qenn
followed. They stayed at one side, away from Kamen Ode, huddled
together staring at the lifeless form of their captor lying in the
street.

“
Don’t look at him like
that.” Kamen said to them, drawing their attention back to him. “He
would’ve killed you all and not thought twice about it. He got what
was coming to him.”

A few blocks down the alley
a mess of people came running. Screaming and shouting all the way,
running like death itself was chasing them. Kamen Ode stood ready
for an assault, the three next to him moved in close together. As
the crowd swept by, words were gathered in their jumbled voices,
sheer terror was seen in their eyes, killer and thief alike were
sent scattering.

“
They’re coming!” their
panicked voices shrieked, gathering more people with them as they
ran.

“
Takers
,” Kamen spit.

“
They found us,” gasped
Qenn.

Kamen Ode looked back to
Qenn. “You?”

Screams broke out a block
away and the four turned to see a group of black cloaked
Takers
heading straight
for them, moving fast. Red eyes glowed in the faceless cowls
sending waves of panic shooting through Qenn’s body. He barely felt
the hand grasping his side as Kamen Ode tossed his lithe form into
the wagon.

“
Get in!” Kamen helped the
girl in as well, Tane jumping in after his brother. Quickly he ran
to the reins and got the horses speeding away just as clawed hands
swiped for the wagon’s doorway and the three inside screamed in
response.

Inside the wagon, the three
could see the red eyes in pursuit as they sped down the alley,
flying past buildings and through intersections, bouncing and
sliding with the wagon’s rough movements. They could hear Kamen Ode
out front cursing for the horses to move faster, screaming at
people to get clear, barking orders continuously.

The wagon turned sharply,
the change sent the three skidding into the side wall, held there
for a second as it seemed the wagon would flip from the momentum,
as they watched out the back door the views of a tight alley, dark
and empty. The wagon pressed on for a few minutes before coming to
a sudden halt that again left them skidding into the front
wall.

“
Out! Let’s go!”

Kamen Ode was at the back
of the wagon before it fully stopped it seemed, hustling his
charges out, then sending the horses and wagon rambling away
without them. Kamen led them quickly off the alley and into an
abandoned ale house that sat on the corner of a block that had no
other buildings close to it. They followed without
question.

Inside the building, Kamen
rushed to the windows, ordering them to do the same, carefully
checking out the street-life, watching for anything following. They
each did as they were told, watching the streets on each side of
the ale house. A few dim lights shined from down the block on the
main street, but nothing lit the alley behind, and the night was
dark. A few drunkards were seen wandering the street, but other
than that it was quiet. It remained so for several long minutes
before Kamen Ode began talking.

“
Your wagon was supposed to
hold a Seer that I’ve been looking for, for a long time now.” His
voice remained low, but hard nonetheless. The group listened, none
of them looking away from their posts. “I am Kamen Ode. What are
your names?”

The brothers hesitated.
Kandish replied. “I am Kandish. Tane and Qenn are brothers. We were
all kidnapped.”

“
You rescued us,” Tane
replied. “I thank you.”

“
I thank you as well.” Qenn
added.

“
What do you know of the
demons? You said they found you? Why would they be chasing you?”
grunted Kamen.

“
We’re not sure why they
are following us. We came here for help.”

Kamen Ode laughed.
“Wherever you were before, was ten times safer than
here.”

“
Why do
you rescue Seers?” Qenn shot back, tired of feeling vulnerable.
“Why do you risk your own life against
Takers
?”

Kamen’s face rippled with
lines of hate. “Because I know what they are. I’ve seen what they
can do, and I know that they use Seers. They hunt them. Herd them
off to the north and change them. I’ve seen Seers take their own
lives because they knew what was coming.”

“
If they catch you, you
will be destroyed.” Kandish said, then hesitated before adding,
“Unless you have magic.”

Kamen Ode kept his face
towards the window. He was very melancholy when he spoke. “I don’t
know of a magic that could save any of us. I fight because it’s all
I can do.”

The room went quiet then,
each of thinking of their own encounters with
Takers
and the events that had led
them to Skadar Port. Each faced out a window, seeing nothing
unusual for the town, no sign of
Takers
. After several long minutes,
Qenn questioned his brother about what they should do next. Neither
had a game plan.

“
Listen, things are quiet
now,” Kamen interrupted their silence, “and I have some people to
meet up with. I’ll be returning in a few hours. You can stay here
and think things through if you’d like. I’d offer you to come with
me, but it’s dangerous where I’m going, and it’d be better for us
all if I went alone. You’ll be safe here.”

Without waiting for a
response, Kamen Ode walked out of the abandoned ale house and
disappeared in the night.

“
He’s a strong man,”
Kandish said. “He may be the help you two are looking
for.”

Qenn turned away from his
post to look at the redhead and was surprised to find her staring
at him. It caught him off guard and he nervously turned away. “I
don’t know. I don’t see how anyone can help us, if we don’t know
how we need to be helped.”

Tane turned to Qenn. “What
we know of Kamen Ode is that he’s against our enemies. What he’s
doing, is what we would’ve for our mother. Qenn, I’d like to
believe that this is why we came to Skadar Port. Kamen Ode is doing
what we should.”